Can you believe that basketball practice is just a few weeks away from starting? It truly is amazing how quickly time flies. We’ve had enough developments to justify a a good basketball entry so I thought that I would throw some bytes together.
Andrew Brackman
As a follow-up to our report that Andrew Brackman had told Sidney Lowe of his intentions NOT to play basketball this season…StateFansNation has confirmed that Brackman has NOT been participating in individual workouts with the program and does not even currently have a locker in the Dail basketball practice facility.
In our previous entry we also stated:
Please note that we are not stating that Brackman will not end up playing basketball at NC State this year. We are stating that he has informed Coach Lowe of his current intention not to play. Coach Lowe has proven to be very flexible and innovative in his thinking related to the basketball program. So, we continue to hold out hope that some kind of compromise agreement can still be struck that gives Brackman what he needs while still helping NC State Basketball with a little support.
In ^that light, we have also confirmed that the staff and the program continue to hold hope that Brackman will miss his teammates and the sport in the layoff before baseball begins and could re-join the team.
As you probably know, Brackman could go as high as the top pick in next year’s Major League Baseball Draft. (How cool would it be to have provided the top NFL and MLB pick in a single year). This link will take you to recent comments on Brackman in recent Kansas City newspaper article:
The Royals also have seen a lot of North Carolina State right-hander Andrew Brackman and Vanderbilt left-hander David Price as well, both of whom could be the No. 1 pick.
“Brackman is a tall guy (6 feet 10), but he pitches short,� Ladnier said. “I mean that in a positive way. Most big guys get pretty loose in their delivery — arms and legs flying everywhere. But he’s got a very repeatable motion.
Missed Opportunity
I forgot to mention this after the App State football game and was reminded of it when I was scrolling through my Tivo of the BC game and saw Sidney Lowe being interviewed by Dr. Jerry Punch on the Wolfpack’s sidelines – why hasn’t Coach Sidney Lowe been prominently welcomed/honored/featured at an NC State football game yet this year?
(He may have been featured at the Akron game but I wasn’t there. If so, it would FURTHER prove the point that I am trying to make).
We often criticize the ‘marketing geniuses’ at NC State even though we recently had a more positive conversation on the topic. Count this one as a big one.
This past weekend Coach Lowe had one of the top post prospects in America, JJ Hickson, in on a visit. The Wolfpack also hosted key target, Chris Wright for the App State game.
How in the world did we NOT take advantage of the opportunity to feature Coach Lowe and “welcome” him (with proper use of the scoreboard) in front of 60,000 rabid fans in the middle of Carter-Finley Stadium? I don’t think that I could accurately describe the impact on the recruitment of these high priority targets of a properly executed “welcome home” to Coach Lowe in such an environment. Somebody was asleep at the wheel on this one (again)
Recruiting
This link will take you to some great recent comments regarding basketball recruiting in case you missed it.
I continue to be cautiously optimistic about the Wolfpack’s recruiting opportunities this year. In addition to the targets that we know are high on the Wolfpack’s list, a whole new group of prospects have been engaged in a lot of recent activity that may develop some opportunity for the Pack – like Dominique Sutton, Herb Pope, Rashad Green and others.
Preview
This link will take you to Part one of four of a very detailed preview of ACC Basketball this season. The preview picks the Wolfpack in last place of the ACC.
“There is absolutely no room for error given the situation that Sendek left for him (Lowe)”
